Community Health Shares Dive on Probe, Profit Warning

[1]Shares of Community Health Care Systems (CYH) tumbled more than 8% in Friday morning trading after the company trimmed its annual earnings outlook[2].

The nation’s second largest hospital system said admission volume was less than expected at its facilities. It also noted a rise in delinquent debts. CYH now projects income from continuing operations of between $2.95 and $3.25 a share for the year. That is well below the $3.65 a share that Wall Street had been expecting, Bloomberg notes.

In addition to falling admissions, CYH, which operates 135 hospitals across 29 states, says that it received a second subpoena from federal regulators who are investigating its Medicare and Medicaid billing practices.

Federal authorities first subpoenaed its billing records in connected with the investigation in 2011.